Railroad fish-joint



L. AMAN.

RAILROAD FISH JOINT.

m x Q m M o m w h ..N v

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEO AMAN, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

RAILROAD FISH-JOINT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 387,031, dated July 31,1888.

(No model.)

.To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEO AMAN, a citizen of the United States, residingat the city of St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented a certain newand useful Improvementin Railroad Fish-Joints, of which the following isa full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improved means of fishing or joining the ends ofrailroad-rails, and has for its object to obtain a firm support for theends of the rails and effect their junction without weakening the railsby holes through their webs, as at present required with ordinaryfish-plate fastenings.

It consists in theuse of achair havinga central longitudinal slot, inwhich the end portions of the web of the rail are placed, and a baseextending beyond the ends of the chair, said base being provided withvertical flanges atits edges for thelateral support ofthe flanges of therail.

On the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of myimproved rail-joint; Fig. 2, a plan; and Figs. 3 and 4 transversesections thereof on lines 1 1 and 2 2, respectively, in Fig. 1,likeletters of reference denoting like parts in all the figures.

a represents a chair made of iron or other suitable material, and formedwith a central longitudinal slot, 6, ofa width slightly exceeding thethickness of the webs of the rails c to be joined, and extendingvertically from the top of the chair a to its base (Z, which extendshorizontally to a suitable distance from each end of and in line withthe chair a, these extended portions of the base d being formed on theirside edges with flanges e, which project somewhat above the uppersurfaceof the base 11.

For a certain distance from the end of each rail 0 corresponding withthe required length of itsjoint the bottom head or flanges, f,of therail 0 are cut away,and the end portion to this extent of the web of therail 0 for its entire depth to the bottom of the latter is placed withinthe slot 1) of the chair a, so that the rabbeted ends f of the flanges fbear against the solid end of the chair a on each side of itsslot b andthe bottom of the rail 0 rests upon the extended portions of thechair-based between its side flanges, e, as shown.

In the side edges and flanges e of the base 01, at suitable distancefrom the ends of the chair a,are upright slots g,through which thespikes h are driven into the sleeper i,the heads of the spikes hprojecting over and bearing on the bottom flanges, f, of the rail 0.which are thereby joined and securely held with the chair a in positionon the sleeper I claim- In a railway-joint, the combination of the railshaving portions of their bottom flanges cut away, and a slotted chairhaving a base extending beyond theends oftheslotted chair, said basehaving vertical flanges for the lateral support of the rail,substantially as and for the purposes specified.

In testimony whereofl have affixed my signature, in presence of twowitnesses, this 3d day of March, 1888.

LEO AM AN.

\Vitnesses:

S. L. SOHRADER, PAUL BAKEWELL.

